one of the last organs to develop…
How much brain development has been completed at birth?A) 100%B) 75%C) 25%
importance of sleep
• REM sleep – critical for neural development in brain, esp. for activity-dependent development– E.g. visual system– Facilitates learning/memory
• Sleep deprivation linked with later problems– E.g. ADHD, learning disabilities
• Babies most at risk of disruption– Premature infants in IC units
stress and brain development
• Exposure to excessive stress hormones is bad for brain development.
• Early symptoms of PTSD• The brain can become incapable of producing
normal stress responses.– Hyper-vigilance (Ghosts in the Nursery)– Emotional flatness
• Physical/emotional abuse and neglect can be equally damaging.
attachment theory• Attachment refers to the close,
emotional bond between an infant and his/her primary caregiver.
• Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud)– Driven by oral needs during the first
year– Emphasized early experiences on later
outcomes• Behaviorist Perspective (Skinner)
– Driven by the need for food– Learns to associate contact with
mother with food• Mother’s closeness continually reinforced
attachment theory
• Ethology (Lorenz)– Rooted in Darwin’s
evolutionary theory – Focused on the adaptive
value of behavior – Imprinting
• Bond necessary for survival
primary criticisms• Love (i.e., attachment) seen as
secondary to instinctive or survival needs
• John Bowlby: observations of children in institutionalized care– Harlow believed that the need for
love and affection was necessary for survival
Harlow’s monkeys (1958)
• Early work with monkeys • Cloth & wire mother
– Only one equipped with feeding apparatus
– Monkeys randomly assigned– Observed for 5 months
• Both groups preferred cloth mother
Contact Time with Wire and Cloth
Surrogate Mothers
24
0
6
12
18
21-251-56-10
11-1516-20
Age (in days)
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Infant monkey fed on wire mother
Infant monkey fed on cloth mother
Hours per day spent with wire mother
Hours per day spent with cloth mother
Mean hours per day
Harlow’s monkeys (1958)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsA5Sec6dAI
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caM4-f6ZZBE&feature=related
attachment theory
• Serves 2 purposes– Secure base– Internal working model
• Mary Ainsworth (1979) – Developed Strange Situation– Work revealed 4 types of attachment behavior
• Securely Attached • Insecure Avoidant• Insecure Resistant• Insecure Disorganized
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU
mirror neurons
• Found in the frontal and parietal lobes
• Fire when you A) You engage in an activity (reaching out
one’s hand) B) You observe someone else engaging in
the same activity.C) BothD) Neither
• True/False: Fire more strongly when action has some purpose or content – reaching out one’s hand for a cup.
crying• Crying – communication of emotion• Response to distress
– Development of emotional self-regulation• Mastery of environment – agency• Biofeedback loop
• Soothing– Swaddling – tight wrapping of baby in cloth– Touch– Sweet taste– Soft, rhythmic sounds– Vibration
crying disorders• Colic (1 in 10 infants; birth – 12 weeks)
– Extended periods of intense crying– Cause unknown
• Digestive problems• Immature nervous system
– Hyper-sensitivity
• Prolonged crying (beyond 12 weeks)– Exhibit developmental and behavioral disorders– PTSD symptoms in babies
• Stress hormones damage hippocampus• Cause hyper-vigilance
early emotional expression
• Earliest emotion– global arousal states of attraction and withdrawal– set the stage for further development– develop into well-organized, sustained signals
• Basic emotions– emotions that can be directly inferred from facial
expressions. • happiness, interest• surprise, fear, anger• sadness, disgust
Basic emotions:A) Universal across all human culturesB) Present in other advanced speciesC) Include guilt, shame, embarrassmentD) A&BE) All of the above
emotional self-regulation• Strategies for adjusting emotional state to a
comfortable level of intensity in order to accomplish goals
• Infants: withdrawal, distress, crying -- need soothing• 4 mos: shift focus of attention• 1 year: approach/retreat from stimulus
• Parents response to distress is important• Sympathetic
– child more easily soothed, more self-regulated• Non-responsive (wait to intervene)
– child enters into rapid, intense distress– harder to soothe– doesn’t develop self-regulation
emotional self-regulation
• When an infant’s needs are met, they can focus on the world around them and explore.– Their brains take in and adapt to stimulation from
the external world.• When they aren’t met, they become fixated
on trying to get their needs met.– They stop exploring and shut out other
stimulation from the external world.
emotions of others• Emotional contagion: babies match the
emotional expressions of caregiver– Still face experiment– http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=apzXGEbZht0
• Social referencing: relying on another person’s emotional reaction to appraise situation – Visual cliff– http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=eyxMq11xWzM
Mirror neurons help infants experience others’ emotions:
A)Yes, because they help them match emotional facial expressionsB)Yes, because they stimulate a matching internal experienceC)Yes, because they allow infants to empathize with others.D)A&BE)No, because mn’s are only involved in imitation of physical behavior
emotions and self-development
Emotions are important in the emergence of self-awareness
• Self-efficacy– awareness that you can affect events in your surrounding
• Self-control– learning to modulate emotional reactions
• Self-concept– episodic memories– external vs. internal characteristics
emergence of the conscience
• Self-regulatory emotions– Guilt/Shame– Embarrassment– Pride– Disgust
• Awareness of expectations/reactions of others• Important distinction between shame and guilt.
• What is the difference?• Why do we call these emotions “moral emotions”?
– moral awareness - sense of good vs. bad– Inhibition of bad behavior, promotion of good behavior
empathy
• May be more important for moral socialization than negative emotions
• Global distress in infants– Emotional contagion
• Egocentric empathy (2 yrs)• Non-egocentric empathy (3 yrs+)• Cognitive empathy (middle childhood)
– Abstract perspective-taking
temperament
• Constitutionally based individual differences in – Emotion– Motor function– Attentional reactivity – Self-regulation
• Influences the way that children develop, display, and control emotions– Foundation for later personality
temperament styles
• Types– Easy– Difficult– “Slow to warm up”
• Differences in sociability• Differences in punishment/reward
Which child will be harder to reward/punish?
A) Easy childB) Difficult child
temperament styles
• What else affects the development of temperament?
• Gender • Cultural differences• Goodness of fit (with
parents/environment)
eating habits
• 2-6 year olds eat less than infants and older children.
• “Just right” phenomenon – picky eaters!– Like: salty/sweet foods– Dislike: bitter/sour foods
• Learning what is appropriate and not appropriate to eat
• Early signs of disgust– Infants show “disgust” facial expression– Strong food preferences
role of disgust
• Protection against dangerous substances– Poisonous foods often bitter– Rotten foods often sour– Disgust expression functions as warning
• Protection against contamination– Children not sensitive to contamination until early
childhood• Protection against deformity and disease
role of disgust
• Higher-order disgust• Physical contamination social
contamination– 7-8 year olds “cooties”
• Physical contamination moral contamination
• Examples?
obesity• Early signs of obesity as young as 2 years old• Obesity rates among 2- to 5-year-olds
– rose to 14% for the years 2003-2006– compared with 5% in 1980
• Need less food than did as an infant– Problem for forcing child to “clean their plate” – Especially w/ desert as an incentive!
• Attraction to salty and sweet foods• Other contributors?
consequences
• Type II diabetes– 50% of some children in low-income areas
• Bone development problems – Stunted hip/leg bone growth
• Cardiovascular disease• HBP, High cholesterol• Lower IQ• Obesity programs for toddlers?
– http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=5602922&page=1
• Increase in “executive function”• Results in increased impulse control
– Delayed gratification – Perseverance
• Results in ability to override current intentions given new information– Color/shape card sorting game
• Memory development– Still better memory for content than context
• No memory of when/where something is learned
succeeding at the false belief task…
Requires understanding that Maxi• A) has a mental state (belief) that is different
from the child’s mental state. • B) has a mental state (belief) that is different
from reality. • C) neither• D) both
• What is the driving force behind this development?
• Brain maturation– Plasticity
• Cognitive exploration– Piaget– Vygotsky
Piaget• Child as Scientists• Children learn on their own• Children are intrinsically
motivated to learn• Language and education play
only minimal roles
Vygotsky• Children as Apprentices • Child learns through social
interaction• Children are socially
motivated to learn• Language and education
play central roles
scaffolding
• temporary support that is tailored to a learner’s needs and abilities
• aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process
zone of proximal development (ZPD)
• The skills that we can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently.
• ZPD applies to the ideas or cognitive skills we are close to mastering as well as to more apparent skills.
• Examples?
parenting styles
• Authoritarian: restrictive style in which parents demand obedience and respect
• Parent places firm limits and does not allow discussion• Parent rigidly enforces rules but rarely explains them• Children are often unhappy, fearful, and anxious
• Authoritative: encourages children to be independent while placing limits and controls on actions
• Extensive verbal give-and-take• Parents expect mature, independent, age-appropriate behavior• Children are often cheerful, self-controlled, and self-reliant
parenting styles
• Neglectful: parent is very uninvolved in child’s life• Children feel that other aspects of the parent’s life are more
important than they are• Children tend to be socially incompetent, immature, and have low
self-esteem
• Indulgent: parents are highly involved but place few demands or controls on the child
• Children never learn to control their own behavior and always expect to get their way